The Ukraine war has caused trouble for many countries in the world. Energy prices are soaring, food prices are skyrocketing, people in developed, developing and poor countries are feeling its impact.
By
KOMPAS EDITOR
·3 minutes read
BIRO PERS SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN/LAILY RACHEV
PresidenT Joko Widodo and Mrs. Iriana Joko Widodo arrived at Przemysl Glowny Station, Przemysl, Poland, Tuesday (28/6/2022) night. Jokowi and his entourage took an extraordinary train to Kyiv, Ukraine.
The armed conflict in Ukraine has proven that war can break out at any time amid the rivalry between major powers.
Russia has decided to continue its attack on Ukraine, although the war it started has made it difficult for the country to access its wealth overseas due to Western sanctions. Moscow decided to take the risk based on various considerations.
Looking back, the war in Ukraine did not just happen. There were conditions that provoked it. Some parties felt that their existence was threatened, while other parties felt the need to seek the support of foreign forces in order to survive.
The Ukraine war has caused trouble for many countries in the world. Energy prices are soaring, food prices are skyrocketing, people in developed, developing and poor countries are feeling its impact. Those suffering the most are the people in poor countries that do not have natural resources.
ISHARA S. KODIKARA
People queue along a street to buy Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders near the Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on June 28, 2022.
However, a greater threat is looming ahead for the world population, which is the rivalry between the major powers, the United States and China. The presence of China’s armed forces in the South China Sea, with the US and its allies sending military vessels and aircraft in response, should be given serious attention. Besides the overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea made by China and several ASEAN countries, there is a potential for war in Taiwan. The struggle over influence in the Pacific also shows how the rivalry between the two camps has a truly global and multidimensional impact.
In this situation, Indonesia should be looking to the future. The country, with its population of 270 million, is obviously a crucial regional force, a major power in Southeast Asia. This is not to mention its record of being one of the largest democratic countries in the world that also has a Muslim majority.
This means Indonesia needs be capable of making an important contribution to the world. Pursuant to the message in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution that Indonesia needs to participate in upholding a world order that is based on lasting peace, among other principles, Indonesia’s leaders should always be ready to carry out missions of peace.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s effort to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin to promote a peaceful solution is highly appropriate. Indonesia’s current position in holding the G20 presidency further adds to President Jokowi’s responsibility in encouraging an end to the war in Ukraine. Apart from preventing victims in the battlefield, Jokowi’s approach is expected to bring an end to the surging prices that have caused suffering to a great many people in developing and poor countries.
Nonetheless, Indonesia also needs to be ready to make important contributions to prevent an armed conflict stemming from the US-China rivalry, which would be greater in scale and multidimensional in nature. Should this war ever break out, the impacts would indeed be terrible.
